Utah Gymnastics Prepared to Battle at Corvallis Regional

Friday, April 3

Corvallis, Oregon

2:00 P.M.

University of Utah

NCAA Regionals

Photo by: Misty-Jade Carlson

Utah Gymnastics Prepared to Battle at Corvallis Regional

4/1/2026 10:01 AM | Gymnastics

Regional Notes

No. 12 Red Rocks continue their post season journey on Friday in Semifinal I

SALT LAKE CITY-- No. 12 Utah heads to Corvallis, Oregon this week to take on No. 5 Alabama, No. 23 Denver, and No. 25 Oregon State in the first session of the Corvallis Regional Semifinals on Friday, April 3 at 2 p.m. MT.

San Jose State and Washington will compete the day before on Thursday, April 2 at 3 p.m. MT in the play-in session, with the winner of that duel-meet competing in the second Corvallis Regional Semifinal session against No. 4 UCLA, No. 13 Minnesota, and No. 19 Iowa on Friday, April 3 at 5 p.m. MT.

The top two performing teams from each semifinal (four total) will go on to compete in the Corvallis Regional Final on Sunday, April 5 at 6 p.m. MT, with the top two teams from that quad-meet moving on to Nationals from April 16-19 in Dallas, Texas.

Fans can watch all of the Corvallis Regional action on ESPN+ with Jason Ross and Kennedy Baker on the call.

QUICK STICKS

Head coach Carly Dockendorf is in her third season at the helm of the Red Rocks and ninth season with Utah Gymnastics overall in 2026.
Dockendorf is joined by 12 returners from last season's team, including senior Makenna Smith and sophomore Avery Neff, while welcoming four freshmen to the mix in Norah Christian, Sage Curtis, Abbi Ryssman, and Bailey Stroud.
Four Utah Gymnasts earned WCGA Regular Season All-America nods- Avery Neff first team all-around and vault, second team bars and beam), Makenna Smith (second team vault and floor), Ella Zirbes (second team vault, bars, and floor), and Ana Padurariu (second team bars).
The Red Rocks earned their second-straight Big 12 title on March 21, 2026 and their highest road score of the season (197.675) which is also their second-highest score of 2026. Utah has won a conference championship six years in a row starting with four Pac-12 Conference Championships from 2021-24 plus their two Big 12 titles from 2025-26.
For the second year in a row, Utah claimed the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year award with Neff claiming the title for 2026. (Grace McCallum won in 2025). Additionally, Padurariu was named Big 12 Specialist of the year.
The Red Rocks cleaned up on the podium during the Big 12 Championship winning every individual title outright. Smith (vault champion- 9.95), Neff (bars, floor and all-around champion- 9.90, 9.975, and 39.700), and Camie Winger (beam champion- 9.975).
Utah Gymnastics posted their highest team floor score of the season at the Big 12 Conference Championship of 49.725 which ranks third all-time in program history. The Red Rocks achieved that score once before in 2014. (Their highest floor score is a 49.800 set in 2001.)
Eight Red Rocks were named to All-Big 12 teams: Neff (vault, bars, beam, floor, and all-around), Zirbes (vault, bars, and floor), Smith (vault, bars, and floor), Abbi Ryssman (bars, beam, and freshman), Padurariu (bars and beam), Ashley Glynn (vault), Zoe Johnson (vault), and Winger (beam).
For the second year in a row, Utah went undefeated in Big 12 competition (6-0) after wins over Iowa State (1/25), ASU (1/30, Arizona (2/6), BYU (2/13), Denver (3/1) and West Virginia (3/7)- earning the Big 12 Regular Season Title outright against the Pioneers.
The Red Rocks earned a season-high score of 198.025 against BYU to earn their first 198 score of the season, and became the fourth program in the country to cross the mark in 2026.
Utah set their second-highest program bars score with a season-high 49.750 against BYU (2/13) while simultaneously setting the high-score on the event for the entire country. The effort was just shy of their 49.800 record set in 2022 and jumped their previous second-highest score (49.700 set in 1993).
Utah tied its fourth highest team vault score in program history at Sprouts of 49.600. Last time Utah hit that mark was in 2005, with their highest score set in 2004 of 49.775.
The Red Rocks announced a multi-year NIL partnership with local company Redmond (1/5/26) that will provide Utah Gymnastics with healthy meals, and electrolyte products, as well as provide funds for future international service trips to be announced at a later date.
Two Red Rocks legends remain on staff for Utah Gymnastics in 2026 with all-time perfect 10s record holder (15) Maile O'Keefe taking on an Operations Specialist position and recently graduated Olympic silver medalist McCallum moving into the Student Assistant Coach role.
Utah Gymnastics clinched Utah Athletics' first four Big 12 Titles (2 regular season, 2 championships) since joining the league ahead of the 2024 fall sports season. In 2014, Utah Gymnastics earned Utah Athletics' first Pac-12 Title, four years after the Utes made the jump to the league from the Mountain West Conference.

CHALK TALK

In 2024 Dockendorf became the first head coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the Final Four in her first year as head coach, earning the highest finish (3rd-place) by any first-year head coach.
Utah returns 18-of-24 routines from last year's team, which finished in fourth place at the NCAA Championships.
Utah's roster contains five All-Americans: Smith (12x), Neff (8x), Zirbes (6x), Winger (1x) and Padurariu (1x) .
Utah has amassed 123 perfect 10.0 scores all-time, with 86 of those performances coming at home in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

LAST TIME OUT

The Red Rocks earned their second-straight Big 12 title on March 21, 2026 and their highest road score of the season (197.675) which is also their second-highest score of 2026. Utah has won a conference championship six years in a row starting with four Pac-12 Conference Championships from 2021-24 plus their two Big 12 titles from 2025-26.
For the second year in a row, Utah claimed the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year award with Neff claiming the title for 2026. (Grace McCallum won in 2025). Additionally, Padurariu was named Big 12 Specialist of the year.
The Red Rocks cleaned up on the podium during the Big 12 Championship winning every individual title outright. Smith (vault champion- 9.95), Neff (bars, floor and all-around champion- 9.90, 9.975, and 39.700), and Camie Winger (beam champion- 9.975).
Utah Gymnastics posted their highest team floor score of the season at the Big 12 Conference Championship of 49.725 which ranks third all-time in program history. The Red Rocks achieved that score once before in 2014. (Their highest floor score is a 49.800 set in 2001.)
The Red Rocks had three athletes set career-highs during the Big 12 Championship- Winger on beam (9.975), Neff on floor (9.975), and freshman Sage Curtis on floor (9.95). Additionally, Neff tied her career-high in the all-around for a third time in 2026 (39.700). Zirbes matched her career-highs on floor (9.95) and beam (9.875). Zoe Johnson matched her career-best on floor (9.90).

UP NEXT

If the Red Rocks advance from the Corvallis Semifinal I, they will compete against the second winner from their competition along with the two winners from Semifinal II on Sunday, April 5 at 6 p.m. MT.

The top two from the Corvallis Regional Final will move on to Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas from April 16-18.

FOLLOW THE RED ROCKS
For an inside look at the Utah Gymnastics program, including tournament, roster and news updates, fans can follow the Red Rocks on social media (TikTok: @utahgymnastics |Instagram: @utahgymnastics).

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